


Getting In Too Deep

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Series: The World Beneath Our Feet [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Cave-In, Gen, Poisoning, Trolls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 16:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21323551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: Aaron choked on rock dust as the ground around him settled and the sound of falling rocks died away.  “What the fuck?” he asked.  “What were you thinking?”Andrew groaned and rolled off Aaron and sprawled out on the uneven ground.  “So sorry that this amulet doesn’t give me the ability to predict earthquakes.”For day 3 of Twinyards Appreciation Week: Bottle Episode
Relationships: Aaron Minyard & Andrew Minyard
Series: The World Beneath Our Feet [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1537252
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45
Collections: Twinyards Appreciation Week 2019





	Getting In Too Deep

Aaron choked on rock dust as the ground around him settled and the sound of falling rocks died away. “What the fuck?” he asked. “What were you thinking?”

Andrew groaned and rolled off Aaron and sprawled out on the uneven ground. “So sorry that this amulet doesn’t give me the ability to predict earthquakes.”

“Not that, idiot, I mean why did you throw yourself on top of me?” Aaron scowled.

Andrew scoffed in the darkness. “Only one of us is wearing a suit of armor that’s literally built to withstand heavy blows from people of a decidedly rock-like inclination.”

“I never asked you to protect me,” Aaron muttered, knowing he was going to lose this argument.

Andrew didn’t bother dignifying that with a response. He stood, pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up, the dim light illuminating his face. “I’m not getting any service down here,” he said.

Aaron checked his own phone and groaned. He must have landed on it when Andrew tackled him to the ground because it was cracked right down the middle and it didn’t matter what button he pressed, there wasn’t a flicker of life. “Oh man, I just got this one,” he complained.

Andrew laughed mockingly and took the amulet off. His armor winked out of existence and he sprawled back down beside Aaron, his back to the wall. He shut his phone off to save the battery and they were plunged into darkness.

Aaron held his hand in front of his face and thought he could perhaps see movement, but he knew the darkness was complete and it was his brain trying desperately to interpret signals from the environment.

“What do we do now?” Aaron asked, hating how small his voice sounded.

“We wait,” Andrew sighed. “I’m sure Wymack heard the cave in. He’ll figure out where we are and he’ll send Neil to get us.”

“Neil,” Aaron sneered. “Why do you put up with him?”

“What do you mean?” Andrew asked, voice deceptively light.

“I don’t know, something about him rubs me the wrong way. He’s...dangerous,” Aaron said.

Andrew snorted. “You have no idea.”

“Well if you’re not going to take me seriously,” Aaron grumbled.

Andrew’s voice was quiet but steel was at its core. “Neil is a lot of things. Even I don’t know everything. But he’s on our side. He’s...he’s good. You had better remember that.”

“I don’t want to talk about Neil,” Aaron said. They sat in silence for a few minutes before the air began to press down on Aaron from all sides, compressing the breath in his lungs.

“This is the second time now that I’ve gotten dragged into one of your crazy adventures. Isn’t it time you told me a little more about what’s going on?” Aaron asked.

Andrew sat silently so long that Aaron thought he had perhaps fallen asleep. “What do you want to know?” he finally said.

“Well, why you?” Aaron asked. “You said there are good trolls and you’re only hunting the bad ones. Isn’t there someone better for the job? Like another troll?”

Andrew shrugged and Aaron could feel it against his shoulder. “Until now the Trollhunter has always been a troll. I’m the first human to do it.” There is something in his voice, not pride, maybe resignation. “I was heading to school. I was running late so I took the canals. And I heard it calling me. The amulet. It called me by name. So I picked it up and took it with me. Dan came and found me and promised to be responsible for my training and it all just kind of snowballed from there.”

“Why didn’t they just take it from you and give it to someone else?” Aaron asked.

“They tried,” Andrew said. “I haven’t introduced you to Seth yet. He’s the son of the former Trollhunter and although it’s not really an inherited position, it does often tend to stick with bloodlines when it can.”

“It’s just a piece of metal. You’re talking like it has free will,” Aaron laughed, stopping short when he realized Andrew hadn’t laughed with him.

“I don’t know if it’s free will exactly, but it chose me. It didn’t choose Seth. There was nothing they could do short of killing me and hoping it chose him next time.” Andrew did laugh then, hard and bitter.

“But…” Aaron started.

“I don’t really feel like talking about this anymore,” Andrew cut him off.

Aaron wanted to push. More questions built up in his brain.

“What if it kills you?” Aaron asked when he couldn’t hold back anymore.

“I never expected to last long anyway,” Andrew said, so quietly Aaron had to strain to hear him.

Aaron elbowed him sharply in the side and gasped in pain as his elbow hit hard rock instead of soft flesh.

“What? Andrew…” Aaron demanded.

Andrew scrambled away from him, impossible to find in the darkness. “Don’t ask. You don’t want to know.” He wasn’t commanding; he was pleading.

“Of course I want to know. I’m your brother. What’s going on?” Aaron stood up, feeling around for his brother.

“Sit down before you fall and crack your head open,” Andrew sighed. 

“Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on. Are you turning into a Troll? Is that a side effect of the amulet?” Aaron could hear his voice getting higher and more screechy but he couldn’t stop it.

“Fine, but you can’t tell anyone, especially not Neil,” Andrew pleaded.

“Why not?” Aaron demanded.

“I mean it, Aaron. You can’t say anything.” Andrew pulled out his phone again and turned on the flashlight. Aaron winced and squinted against the brightness after so long in the pitch dark.

Andrew lifted his shirt and angled the flashlight toward it. It took a moment for Aaron to figure out what he was seeing. There was a crack in Andrew’s side, maybe an inch long and just breaking the skin, but grey veins radiated away from it. His brother was turning to stone.

“Is it spreading?” Aaron whispered.

Andrew nodded.

“How long?” Aaron asked, the lump in his throat almost preventing him from speaking.

Andrew shrugged. “It happened a week ago. It’s not spreading very quickly. I could have months before it really affects me.”

“You have to tell someone. There has to be a cure,” Aaron said, reaching out a hand but stopping short when Andrew flinched violently away.

“It’s Creeper Sun poison. I already know there isn’t a cure. If I tell them, they’ll make me rest. They’ll fuss. I can’t get sidelined, not yet. I’ll have enough of that once...once…” Andrew stopped and turned away, plunging them into darkness again.

Aaron was saved from answering by a popping sound and a dimly illuminated head appearing in the room.

“Someone call for a lift?” Neil’s voice said cheerfully.

After all that, the rescue was completely uneventful. They walked through the black hole in the middle of the room and they were outside, breathing in the fresh air and squinting in the light of the full moon.

Aaron turned to go home, leaving Andrew to his patrol or whatever but Andrew stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. Aaron looked back and saw his brother, eyes vulnerable for once, silently pleading for him to keep his mouth shut.

Aaron nodded slightly. 

A rush of relief crossed Andrew’s face before his normal impassive mask slid over it. He turned and followed Neil down the alley and Aaron set his feet toward home. Maybe he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about Andrew’s poisoning but this was not going to be the end of it. Someone had to save his idiot brother and it might as well be him.


End file.
